Peter

I'm very satisfied. The sound is great. One issue I had was that the digital input every once in awhile needs to be reset at start-up. This caused problems with my wife as she just can't be bothered and is frustrated if she turns on the stereo and no sound. Even though the Arcam has a very good DAC, I've taken to listening in my main zone through analogue direct with very good results - which isn't affected by the Lynx losing it's setting. I'm happy with my other zones (wired directly to my AVR) as well. This is a very good solution for me. I'm now experimenting with Pure Music. My choice of a 30 GB OCZ Turbo SSD might have been misguided and I should have gone with the 60 GB or larger as my computer froze up after 4 straight hours of playing though the memory play option. I'm now going to erase and install this weekend to a minimal Leopard install. There is definitely an improvement in sound with Pure Music Peter

I'm also using the L22 and am very happy with it. I've got an Arcam AVR600 and I'm simultaneously inputting digital into the main zone and analog into the 2nd zone. I'm using monitors in my main room (Triangle Zephyrs) and a sub (with surrounds for movies) and find I like the 2 channel through the L22's DACs. This may change when I move to full-sized speakers. My 2nd zone through analog sounds great also. My system is a MAC G5 and I'm using custom cables from Blue Jean Cable. If you go with a G5, you have to be careful to get the right model that accepts PCI. Peter

Thanks Eloise, Follow-up - Is there a way to have the actual music files segregated on my hard drive and then consolidate them in my music library? In January I could then "de-consolidate" them, ie, pull out of my iTunes library but keep them on the hard drive in their file - ready for pulling in again next December? Peter

I’ve got our 50 or so Christmas CDs sitting in a bag and I think this is the year for loading them on the hard drive. But, I don’t want to mingle them with my music library and I need very straightforward access or my wife will lose patience. I’m wondering how others organize their holiday music. If we were in my ideal world, I’ld have a separate file on my hard drive labeled “Christmas Music” and I could segregate it from my regular library and then click on it and I could then get the holiday music list. Sort of like a new election just under “Radio” and “Music.” Peter

Will do. I'll pick up the Mac tomorrow and if all is well hopefully put in the order for the card and other supplies (including a small SSD). With luck I'll have a project for the holiday weekend and be able to report back. Thanks for the offer. Peter

Eloise - it reputably does have a good bypass. I haven't used it as I've been feeding a digital signal from my Mac Mini via the Trends. I won an auction last night for a G5 (M9747) that Apple and info on the web says should have PCI slots and not PCI-X. Seller is very close by so I'll be picking it up tomorrow evening. I would really like to place my orders quickly so I could set myself up over the holiday next week. A few questions I'm hoping that someone can help me with. Before I order the L22, is there a way to confirm the PCI slots? Either via the Tiger OS or physically looking at the slots? Following guidance on this site, people seem to have a good experience obtaining custom cables from Redco. What exactly should I be ordering - which output plug, Male RCAs and cable? Thanks, Peter

Jesus, Great advice. Thanks. My Arcam has very good bypass mode and I'll check to see if it's digital conversion, I suspect it is. The multi-zone handling/switching is internal. I called Apple this afternoon and they were very helpful. I asked about G5 models with the dual core 2.0Ghz processor and the models with PCI (not PCI-X) are M9747 (early 2005) & M9555 (2004). Any other advice out there? Peter

I’m wondering whether the L22 is my solution. I have an Arcam VR600, and like most AVRs, it will input digital or analog into the main zone and only analog into zones 2/3. I’m thinking a G5 with a L22 outputting simultaneously digital and analog is the way to go but I’ld like to hear people’s thoughts. I currently have a Mac Mini > Trends UD 10.1 lite > simultaneously outputting digital and analog to my AVR. A follow-up question is whether I would really need to use the card’s digital output or whether the analog would be the way to go into all 3 zones. I realize the answer is to try it both ways but, as I would have to order both cables, I’m throwing out the question to see if there is a clear answer. Peter

I’m using Tiger OS and iTunes with my library on a 750GB Seagate EHD and use SuperDuper! to smart copy my library onto another Seagate EHD. My goal, in case of theft, fire or whatever, is to have a secure copy of our music library with its tags. I know how to make a copy of our tag’s Music Library.xml file. If I have a need to use the copy, I guess I would delete the original on my Mac’s HD and replace it with the copy. I don’t know if this is all there is to it but I’m thinking the tag file is constantly updated and would not synch completely with the backed up music library if any changes had been made since the last library backup. I’m fairly new with iTunes and have already had one smart copy backup in which a few tag links were corrupted – though I’m not sure why. I would think the solution would be for both the Music Library.xml and music library files to be on the primary EHD and that my smart copy back-up would simply make a mirror image of the synched library and tag files. If something happened to my main EHD, I would then replace it with my back up and I’m still in business. However, I don’t know if it is possible to maintain the tag library on an EHD. I haven’t found anything helpful online and any advice will be greatly appreciated. Peter